"Whether it's a man or a woman in charge, it's only right to beat up a scoundrel like you." Sun Miao'er simply couldn't stand this man's thuggish behavior. Did he think he could bully them just because they were women?

Let him know now that women aren't easy to bully.

The man with the mustache patted his slapped face, raised his head, and shouted, "Don't let a woman talk to me! Where's Wei Rongchang? Get out here!"

From the moment the man with the mustache entered the house, Sun Miao'er guessed that things weren't so simple. What kind of businessman would act so irrationally? It must be that someone had hired thugs and ruffians to deliberately cause trouble for the Wei family.

"You certainly know how to pick your days." Wei Rongchang walked in from outside, striding forward with a loud voice, "I just went to the city to place an order today, and you came to my door."

Wei Rongchang was only halfway there when he received the message. It said that there was a problem with last month's goods, and the people involved came to make trouble. But when he saw the people, he couldn't believe that the Wei family had ever done business with such people.

"May I ask your esteemed name, sir? And who is your employer?"

The man with the mustache was pretentious, while Wei Rongchang was imposing and dignified. When the two stood together, the man with the mustache's imposing manner immediately diminished by half. He said, "Manager Xie Wei of Pingnan City is my boss, and I am here on his behalf."

"Oh..." Wei Rongchang nodded thoughtfully, "From Pingting Cloth Shop?"

"yes."

Wei Rongchang recalled that last month, a shop called Pingting Cloth Shop suddenly came to their door wanting to order a batch of cloth from them. However, he had never heard of this shop before. For decades, the Wei family had only served regular customers or new customers introduced by acquaintances. Very few people came by word of mouth.

Later, after asking around, I learned that it was a newly opened cloth shop in Pingnan City. It was not large, just a small storefront, and the location was average.

Wei Rongchang initially didn't want to deal with such businessmen, but later, a man surnamed Xie said he knew Chen Laowu and came to him. So he handed the order over to Chen Laowu. Since the amount of goods was small, he didn't pay much attention to it.

“Your employer was introduced by Chen Laowu, so why don’t you go find Chen Laowu first?” Wei Rongchang asked.

The man with the mustache stammered for a while before finally saying, "Our boss has already spoken to Chen Laowu. He said he's no longer working for the Wei family and told us to come directly to you!"

"What's wrong with the goods?" Wei Rongchang sensed that something was amiss and pressed for an answer.

The man with the mustache pulled a piece of cloth from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Rongchang: "Take a look for yourself!"

Wei Rongchang took the cloth, examined it for a while, and replied, "Impossible! This absolutely cannot be Wei family's goods!"

"Master, may I take a look at it?" Yunniang stepped forward and asked, taking the piece of cloth from Wei Rongchang's hand.

After a moment, a look of difficulty appeared in Yunniang's eyes.

Sun Miao'er was completely confused, but she could guess most of it. She whispered, "Sister, is something wrong?"

"The raw silk is problematic. It's made from the two lowest quality strands of silk, and the weaving was done carelessly, with crooked and twisted stitches. Although it might not be immediately obvious, it will be extremely difficult for tailors to cut, resulting in rough edges and burrs." Yunniang clutched the cloth in her hand. If that batch of cloth was indeed like this, the Wei family would be in big trouble.

The man with the mustache sneered, "Oh? Manager Wei won't admit it, is that it? Did you think I would conjure up a piece of cloth to slander your Wei family? This is just a small piece that our boss took down. The rest of the goods are still in the cloth shop, still sealed with the Wei family's seal. Manager Wei can go and see for himself!"

"Who handed over this batch of goods?" Wei Rongchang's heart tightened for some reason, and he pressed the manager for an answer.

The manager replied, "It's Master Chen who's in charge."

Wei Rongchang then realized that he had probably fallen into Chen Laowu's trap, and cursed, "You good-for-nothing Chen Laowu!"

Sun Miao'er knew that this was the business world. On the surface, it looked glamorous and extravagant, but inside it was full of deceit and treachery. Chen Laowu must have been an old member of the Wei family. Wei Rongchang probably never imagined that he would be tricked by Chen Laowu.

This one was quite forceful.

Yunniang pulled Sun Miao'er aside and let Wei Rongchang talk to the man with the mustache outside.

Sun Miao'er tentatively asked, "Sister, has this ever happened before?"

Yunniang shook her head. "No, this matter can be big or small, it depends on what the other party thinks."

"How so?"

"Don't underestimate this small order. Using inferior silk instead of good silk for shipment is a major taboo in the industry. Whether the weaving is good or not is another matter. If the negotiation fails and the other party exposes this, the Wei family's business will be in trouble in the future."

Sun Miao'er voiced her thoughts, "But it's obvious that the Wei family was framed."

“So what if it is?” Yunniang sighed. “Chen Laowu is gone and can’t produce any evidence, so the Wei family has to take the blame.”

It was indeed a difficult task. Yunniang never expected that the Wei family would make such a mess so soon after she took over their workshop. "Chen Laowu has made a mess of things. The Wei family will have to clean it up for him, and they'll probably have to spend a lot of money."

After clarifying the cause and effect, Sun Miao'er said, "Don't rush, let's take it slowly and see what the other party said to Master Wei first."

Yunniang has helped me a lot, and I can't just sit idly by at this time. Besides, the Wei family has treated me well.

"But who would do such a thing? The enemy? Or is there a mole in the Wei family?" Sun Miao'er was also puzzled. Logically speaking, if Chen Laowu had any resentment or hatred in his heart, he should have run away long ago. How could he have been doing this for so many years?

It's not the enemy that's scary, it's the mole inside that's hard to find.

Soon, the people outside dispersed, and the workers went about their work as if nothing had happened.

Wei Rongchang went into the accounting room and called Yunniang in, with Sun Miao'er following behind.

"Master, what did they say?" Yunniang asked anxiously.

Wei Rongchang's expression was solemn as he said, "There are two options: one is to give them five thousand taels of silver, and the other is to provide them with another batch of new goods for free."

"Five thousand taels? Isn't this robbery?" Yunniang was shocked, never expecting them to ask for such an exorbitant amount.

Sun Miao'er was also taken aback when she heard about the five thousand taels. If it was really Chen Laowu who acted as a middleman, he would have to take at least a thousand taels of the five thousand taels. A thousand taels was probably equivalent to ten years of work in the Wei family. In that case, his motive would be clear.

"Let's send someone to check out Pingting Cloth Shop first, just in case what that person said isn't true!" Yunniang suggested.

Wei Rongchang said, "With the Wei family's seal on it, he wouldn't dare to say such things. I reckon he's just a errand boy who gets paid, not a true employee of the Xie family."

That makes sense. What kind of employee would hire someone like that? He looks like a fortune teller, only good for scaring people.

"If you can't find enough people, let me know." Sun Miao'er stepped forward. For her, this was the best kind of training. She couldn't have too many, since she would have to go through this eventually anyway.

It would also be good to find out the details of these fabric shops.